- Dalton Wheeler and Jonathan Sargent face manslaughter charges in a 2022 fatal crash.
- Sargent's dump truck lost brakes in Big Cottonwood Canyon, killing Jessica Minnesota, police say.
- The truck was deemed unsafe, according to court documents; ongoing civil litigation involves Alpine Excavation.
BIG COTTONWOOD CANYON — Three years after a dump truck lost its brakes and collided with a car near the Storm Mountain area of Big Cottonwood Canyon, killing an expectant mother and injuring others, the driver of the truck and the company's owner are now facing criminal charges.
Dalton Nathan Wheeler, 31, and Jonathan Ryan Sargent, 41, both of Ogden, were each charged Wednesday with two counts of manslaughter, a second-degree felony.
On Aug. 15, 2022, a Mack dump truck hauling asphalt tried to use the hillside as a runaway truck lane near Storm Mountain when it crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with a Honda Pilot.
The driver of the car, Jessica Keetch Minnesota, 36, of West Jordan, was killed in the crash. Minnesota's 4-year-old son and 61-year-old mother were taken to area hospitals in critical condition, and her 2-year-old daughter was seriously injured. Police later learned that Keetch was 12 weeks pregnant.
She was on her way up Big Cottonwood Canyon to go hiking with her children and mother, who was visiting from out of state, when her car was hit by the dump truck going down the canyon. Sargent was the driver of the dump truck.
"Sargent stated he was coming down the canyon with a full load of asphalt millings and traveling 25 mph in low gear when he started to pick up speed. Sargent stated his truck lost its brakes and popped out of gear as he was coming around the corner. Sargent stated he tried to turn into the hillside. Sargent stated as he turned his truck, it went onto two wheels at the same time the Honda came around the corner," according to charging documents.
As Unified police investigated the crash, they found a witness who said she saw the dump truck leave a construction site near the Donut Falls parking lot, and that "Sargent passed her vehicle at a very high rate of speed and showed no signs of slowing," the charges state. "During subsequent litigation, (a second) independent witness ... stated that he ran into Sargent at the job site up Big Cottonwood Canyon while they were waiting in a line together to load asphalt millings into their trucks. Sargent stated that he had never loaded asphalt millings before and asked (the witness) what he should do. During that conversation, Sargent asked (the witness) what he should do if the truck were to pop out of gear while he was driving it."
The Utah Highway Patrol also assisted with the investigation and determined that two of the axles on the dump truck were inoperable and one "had insufficient brake linings" while the other "had no movement of the push rod or brake pads when the service brake was applied. The inspection showed the vehicle had at least two of the six brakes out of service," according to the charges.
Further investigation concluded that Sargent was going 54 mph when he lost control of the truck in the S-curve, the charges state. Trucks are advised to go 25 mph through the curve. The investigation also determined Minnesota slowed to 12 mph when she saw the oncoming dump truck.
The Mack truck belonged to Alpine Excavation, LLC, which was operated by Wheeler.
"During subsequent litigation, Wheeler stated that Sargent was not a hired driver, so Wheeler never did a ride-along with him to evaluate his driving technique like he would with his hired drivers. Wheeler stated that it was a verbal requirement for drivers to do a pre-trip and post-trip inspection on the truck," the charges state. "Wheeler stated it was policy to get annual inspections but blamed employee turnover for the truck not being inspected for two years. The litigation confirmed that the truck at issue had been 'red tagged' and pulled out of service by UDOT in April 2021."
Minnesota's family filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit against Alpine Excavation, Sargent and others in 2024. That litigation was still ongoing as of Wednesday.
